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Project

The Role of Data Visualization in Urban Studies

As large volumes of data become increasingly available, new opportunities arise to harness their potential for urban studies. Data visualization is vital for this purpose, particularly in tackling fuzzy problems that require an explorative process of discovery to re-frame. This research investigates how data visualization can be used to harness big data for domain specific challenges in urban studies. To address this question, I demonstrate the utility of data visualization in four different case studies and developed a framework to compare their outcomes from design to application. Based on this comparison, I show how data visualization facilitates discovery, contemplation and presentation amongst other roles. Reflecting on my experience from this research, I discuss the factors to consider when developing data visualizations for particular roles in urban studies, and share my thoughts on the need for novel visualization techniques.

Case Study 1. “BinSq” is a novel gridded dot density mapping technique designed to visualize voluminous geographic datasets. The technique was applied to a large dataset of language referenced, geotagged Twitter data to reveal ethnic communities in Brussels. This work contributes to data visualization research and urban studies.

Case Study 2. In “Mapping Cilento: Using Geotagged Social Media Data to Characterize Tourist Flows in Southern Italy”, a novel analytical technique was developed to characterize tourist flows with geotagged Twitter data. The resulting insights from analysis extended the existing understanding of tourist movements in Southern Italy.

Case Study 3. In “Who Is Really Using FixMyStreet? Studying the extent of Socio-Demographic Inequality in Crowdsourced Civic Participation on FixMyStreet Brussels”, visual analysis of geotagged data from a web-based civic participation platform led to several statistically significant findings which, reveal the extent of socio-demographic inequality on that platform.

Case Study 4. In “What Public Transit API Query Logs Tell Us About Travel Flows”, visualizations of query logs from a route planning API provided experts in transportation studies with an alternative perspective of public transit demand in Belgium. The insights obtained were published in a news article and eventually paved the way for discussions with public transport service providers.

Date:21 Feb 2012 →  8 Nov 2016
Keywords:Geotagged Twitter Data, Social Media Data, Data Visualisation, Urban Studies, Spatial Planning
Disciplines:Applied mathematics in specific fields, Computer architecture and networks, Distributed computing, Information sciences, Information systems, Programming languages, Scientific computing, Theoretical computer science, Visual computing, Other information and computing sciences, Urban and regional design, development and planning, Architectural engineering, Architecture, Interior architecture, Architectural design, Art studies and sciences
Project type:PhD project